


Once More I Can See

by Raindene



Series: Trials of Love [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Study, Emotional Hurt, Game Spoilers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Ryuji doesn't realise he loves Akira, Ryuji is dense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 07:05:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12030705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raindene/pseuds/Raindene
Summary: Being around Akira made Ryuji feel free, like he finally had found a place where he belonged. Until the day it all got very complicated.





	Once More I Can See

**Author's Note:**

> Listening to this song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9GAvkt0Pcs), along with reading other Akiryu fics inspired me to write this. I hope you enjoy :)  
> There is one spoilery scene from the game at about the 3rd paragraph, also most of the writing there was based on that scene, so keep that in mind.  
> Still new to Archive formatting too, but I hope I did an alright job >.<  
> (more notes at the bottom)
> 
> (Updated on the 10th of September to get some grammar errors out)

-Around 6 years ago-

The door slammed shut as a tear-faced 10-year old Ryuji just stared at it. He could feel his mother embracing him from behind, telling him that everything was going to be alright and that it wasn’t his fault. That he was a kind, loyal and funny boy and that things were going to get better now that his father was gone. No more beatings, no more angry tirades at night. Just the two of them, surviving together. Clenching his little fists, it was that day that Ryuji vowed to himself to never cry again, to protect his mother and to never let anyone get the better of him again. He was not going to be a screw-up like his father was.

Years passed, during which Ryuji was forced to spend a lot of time alone. His mother had to get an additional job, to make sure they were able to live in their apartment. Ryuji could never blame his mother though, she only did this to make sure he had a future. If he blamed anyone, he blamed himself, for being a useless, deadweight son, who was nothing but trouble. He did try to get good grades at school, but he just couldn’t do it. He assumed it was because he was just stupid or something. The only thing he was good at was running, good enough to get a track scholarship. When he and his mom found out, they were both incredibly happy. Ryuji would be able to go to college, he would have a future, but that dream was crushed when Kamoshida broke his leg. Now he had nothing, which felt fitting to him somehow. It only made sense that a nothing like Ryuji had nothing.

His friends abandoned him after the incident and he was all alone, the rest student body branding him a delinquent. Nothing good could come from hanging out with Ryuji. Ryuji was trouble and everyone knew it. At least that’s what the rumors said. Eventually the teachers stopped bothering with him as well. You couldn’t fix that good for nothing delinquent. Of course, they wouldn’t say that to his face, but he knew that’s what they thought. Deep down, it did hurt, but Ryuji wasn’t going to show anyone that and just endured. Like he had with his dad before. To prove to everyone he was able to endure, he started bleaching his hair, feeling that he truly embraced his delinquent status that way.

A few months after losing his place on the track team he met Akira, and ever since he met him, things had slowly started to look up. Sure, he had gotten himself dragged into life-threatening situations, but it had all been worth it. For the first time since the Kamoshida incident he had a group of friends, he even had someone who he could call a best friend. He and Akira had become thick as thieves after hitting it off almost immediately. They would hang out together whenever they had free time, going out for ramen or some other kind of food, seeing movies, playing games, running or going to the gym and even going to an amusement park together thrice during the summer. The more they hung out, the closer they got. They would hug, slap each other on the back and got increasingly affectionate around each other. During Palace and Mementos explorations Ryuji had become Akira’s second-in-command and his most trusted partner. He would never be put on the sidelines, unlike everyone else who Akira repeatedly switched out. Being around Akira made Ryuji feel free, like he finally had found a place where he belonged. Until the day it all got very complicated.

* * *

It was the day of the annual school festival and both Ryuji and Akira had somehow managed to get wrapped up in the “Student Sharing Special”, which was as horrible as it sounded. Ryuji had managed to attract the MC’s attention and after making a fool of himself on stage Akira was called up.

“Now, what would you like to share with us today?” the MC asked Akira, sounding inquisitive.

“I have a bombshell,” Akira responded with his usual deadpan voice.

“The hell…?” Ryuji muttered to himself. What the hell was Akira doing? As far as Ryuji knew, there was nothing big Akira could share on stage and he was his best bro, he would know. Grabbing his phone, he started texting:

**Ryuji > **what’re ya gonna say!?

**Akira > **I love Ryuji!

The moment he saw that, he almost dropped his phone in surprise. This felt wrong on so many levels, no one could ever really love him, not even a guy like Akira, who was a guy, which probably wasn’t right either. Still, a tiny part of him felt happy that Akira was acknowledging him. That was when Ryuji’s survival instinct kicked, this was going to make his bad reputation worse and he was not going to have that. He did not want the bullying to start again and he wasn’t going to let all the good things that had been happening to him get ruined because Akira was making a stupid joke. There was no way this wasn’t a joke, but even though he didn’t want to admit it, something felt off to him about that assessment.

**Ryuji > **are you stupid!?

**Ryuji > **i don’t need that label on me! i won’t be able to come back here tomorrow!

**Ryuji > **is there anything colder than this?

**Ryuji >** give me back the Akira i know!

“Um…excuse me…” the MC asked, sounding almost apologetic. “Do you have…anything?”

Akira quietly shook his head. His demeanor seemed to have changed and Ryuji could’ve sworn Akira looked sad, maybe even hurt, for a moment after looking Ryuji straight in the eye. He told himself he was imagining things, Akira probably wasn’t even looking at him. The MC quickly called for the next person after that, allowing Akira to get off the stage.

The remainder of the festival felt a little awkward. Akira got increasingly distant, not even giving Ryuji a goodbye hug like he usually did. The lack of the hug made Ryuji a little upset, which he figured made sense since they always hugged. They were best bros after all and best bros hug all the time, Ryuji figured. Was Akira really upset at him? He wondered about it for a moment, before deciding Akira must’ve been in a rush to get home as he got on the subway himself.

When he got back home, his mom was still out. Realizing she must be working a nightshift again, Ryuji shrugged, before deciding to go to bed. Stripping down to his boxers, Ryuji dropped himself on his bed carefully, making sure his bad leg was in an alright position before laying down. It had started hurting a lot more lately. Probably because of all the explorations they had been doing. He knew the others noticed it too, because he had been limping a lot, but he pretended he was alright. The last thing Ryuji wanted was for the others to think of him as a burden. He was already enough of a burden to his mother, he didn’t need to be one to his friends too.

Try as he might, he couldn’t fall asleep. He kept seeing the sad look he thought he saw in Akira’s eyes flash in front of him and it was driving him insane. The more he thought about it, the more he started to blame himself for it. This was exactly like him, he would screw up and upset the catalyst of good things in his life. That is when the fear hit him. What if he actually upset Akira? What if Akira didn’t want him anymore? What if everyone would hate him for upsetting Akira and he would be all alone again? He had to stop himself from making his thoughts get progressively worse. He felt tears in the back of his eyes, but he couldn’t cry, he promised himself to never cry again. He willed himself to sleep while clenching his fists, trying not to cry as he slowly dozed off.

* * *

A couple of days passed and while Ryuji still felt like things were off between him and Akira, everything seemed almost normal. Everyone went about doing their normal things, going to school during the day, going to Mementos, exploring a palace or hanging out after school. The only differences were that Akira would no longer hang out with him alone and that Ryuji was suddenly put on the sidelines during explorations. Ryuji forced himself to think that Akira was just being busy or that he was concerned about Ryuji’s leg, it had gotten worse after all, not wanting to think about the other possibilities. He did think about them though and he started to feel more and more convinced that he had screwed up again. That’s what he did, wasn’t it?

Then one afternoon Ryuji felt his phone vibrating during class and saw that Ann had texted him:

> **Ann > **Ryuji. Talk ASAP. You free today? ;)

Ryuji was slightly taken aback by this. He and Ann had gotten closer ever since they started speaking to each other again, but she generally didn’t send him texts like this. Not even back when they were friends in middle school.

> **Ryuji > **im free. you ok?
> 
> **Ann > **This isn’t about me Ryuji. Meet me at the train station.
> 
> **Ryuji >** for real?! the hell is this about then?
> 
> **Ann > **What do you think? Anyways class. I’ll see you this afternoon, yeah?
> 
> **Ryuji > **k...

* * *

 After class ended Ryuji went to the train station, like he agreed. Surprised that he arrived before Ann, he decided to wait by leaning against the wall, all the while pondering what this was all about. While he waited, his mind wandered off once more as he started thinking about how distant Akira had been. He really did screw up this time, didn’t he? That’s probably why Ann was meeting up with him, to tell him he was an idiot and that she and the others didn’t want to hang out with him anymore. It made sense that Ann was the one to break the news to him as she, aside from Akira was probably his closest friend. He probably wasn’t important enough to the others to even bother with him.

“Ryuji!”

“Hello?! Are you ignoring me on purpose or something?”

Snapping back into reality, he saw Ann standing in front of him, frantically waving her hand in front of his face.

“The hell you doing Ann?” Ryuji shouted, a little louder than he intended, as he often did.

“What do you mean? You’re the one staring off into the distance like some lovesick puppy,” she joked, trying to hide her smile.

“So what is this about? Why did we have to urgently meet?” Ryuji asked, getting impatient.

Ann looked at him with surprise for a moment, which caused Ryuji to immediately wonder if he had done something wrong again.

“We probably shouldn’t talk about it in public like this, can we go to your place? You’re generally home alone right?” She asked him.

Ryuji realized that wasn’t as much of a question as it was a suggestion, seeing as Ann had already made up her mind. She was right too, his mom wouldn’t be home until late, so he shrugged before telling her she could come. Ann’s face brightened for a moment, before they got on the subway.

The subway ride was rather uneventful. They were crammed between lots of people, which meant they were pretty much unable to talk. To Ryuji’s surprise, Ann had managed to snag a seat, while he was stuck standing between smelly office workers. Forcing himself to focus and not drift off into his thoughts again, he started counting the stations until they reached their stop.

“This does take me back, you know?” Ann said, smiling, after they got off the train. Ryuji pondered what she meant for a moment, before realizing that he took her home more often back in middle school. He nodded at her, before guiding her to his place. They casually talked while walking towards the building, putting Ryuji’s mind at ease a little. Maybe she wasn’t here to tell him she hated him after all.

When they arrived at his apartment’s door, Ryuji quickly unlocked it, before telling Ann to make herself at home. “Want a drink? Tea or something?” he offered.

“Sure, make sure it’s a sweet tea though,” Ann responded, before sitting down on the couch.

After making Ann some tea, and grabbing a can of orange soda for himself, he sat down across from her. Somehow Ann’s face had changed. While she looked cheerful before, she was now looking at him with a serious look on her face.

“What’s up between you and Akira? You two used to be ridiculously close and now you barely see each other,” she asked, sounding inquisitive.

Ryuji felt as if he had been hit across the face. She was here about Akira. He just stared at her, unable to form a sentence. It was like he somehow lost the ability to speak.

“You didn’t act like an idiot and screw everything up again, did you?” she asked, sounding more concerned than angry.

“What do you know, you stupid bitch?” Ryuji shouted at Ann, turning all his anxiety, fears and frustrations and turning it into anger, completely losing control over his temper. This was exactly what he was afraid of, and it was happening right in front of his face now.

It took him a couple of seconds before realizing what he had done, but it was too late. Ann had stood up, anger flashing across her face, before slapping Ryuji straight across the cheek.

“Well, I guess this was stupid of me. I’m leaving!” she shouted, before finishing her tea and starting to collect her things. As she was collecting her things, Ryuji realized he had screwed up again, he had lost his temper and screamed at the one person who was trying to help him. Ann was right for slapping him, he had deserved it.

“Ann, wait…” he muttered quietly.

Ann ignored him, having finished collecting her things and walking towards the door.

“Please don’t leave me like they did… I know I’m a piece of shit who deserves nothing, but please don’t go… I… I don’t wanna be effin’ alone again…”

No longer being able to hold back his tears, Ryuji started sobbing, letting himself drop on the couch while hiding his face in his hands. “Dammit…” he cursed to himself while getting ready to beat himself, he deserved as much.

It was then that he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I didn’t go Ryuji. What is going on with you?” It was Ann, who had stopped in her tracks and immediately turned back after seeing Ryuji break down. She thought Ryuji had just been a jerk to her, like he generally acted to everyone, not realizing that there was something else going on.

Unable to form any words, he just looked at her, tears still streaming down his face. Ann then threw her arms around him, hugging him closely.

“So…what happened Ryuji?” Ann asked, after he had stopped sobbing. Ryuji, realizing there was no point hiding his secret anymore, decided to tell Ann everything. After all, he could hardly claim nothing was going on after completely breaking down in front of her.

He told her about his father abandoning him and how he used to be beaten by him for being a bad kid. How the Kamoshida incident made him lose the one hope he had off getting a bright future. That no one wanted to hang out with him because of said incident. How, before meeting Akira, he didn’t have any friends and everyone had given up on him.

* * *

At that moment Ann stopped him and hugged him again. Having started crying herself.

“Ryuji, I’m so sorry for abandoning you when you needed a friend. I knew the rumors weren’t true, I just had so much on my plate and you seemed like you were fine so…I mean you dyed your hair and everything…” she rambled.

“It’s okay Ann, you had your own share off trouble with Kamoshida…” he muttered, cutting her off and feeling uncomfortable that he was suddenly comforting Ann.

It seemed to have worked though, as she recollected herself and asked: “So, what happened between you and Akira? It doesn’t have anything to do with what happened at the school festival, does it?”

“How do you know…?” Ryuji started, before realizing Mishima had probably been looking at his text messages.

“It wasn’t Mishima, in case you’re thinking that,” Ann started. “We were all really worried about you two, so Futaba decided to hack into your phone and we saw the exchange after Akira confessed to you.”

'After Akira confessed to you' those words rung inside Ryuji’s mind, wanting to hit himself for not realizing it before.

“Makoto is talking to Akira right now, it’s about time you two sort out your issues. You two had practically been dating since before summer break.”

“Wait hold up!” Ryuji stammered in shock. “The hell do you mean we have practically been dating?”

Ann smiled at him, before explaining how Ryuji and Akira had been inseparable since they met, how they always hung out together, how they had gone to the amusement park three times over the summer. She also explained that after Haru joined their group, she, together with Makoto, Futaba and Yusuke, had to explain to her multiple times that she couldn’t just confront them about them being “the cutest couple she has ever seen”, whatever that meant.

* * *

That is when it hit Ryuji and he felt a bit overwhelmed by his feelings. He and Akira had spent an awful lot of time together. Akira was the only person who ever made him feel like he truly belonged somewhere. Akira had always been there for him, never wanting or asking for anything in return.

“So…he wasn’t joking when he texted me?” Ryuji slowly asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

Ann looked at him, giving him an exasperated look before telling him that if he really wanted to know, he should ask Akira himself.

Looking at her phone, she smiled momentarily, before the doorbell rang.

“For real!? No one usually comes by at this time!” Ryuji shouted, somewhat annoyed, before making his way towards the door.

As he opened it, he was greeted by the biggest surprise in his life.

There they stood, Akira and Makoto. Makoto looking incredibly proud of herself while Akira looked confused. “Weren’t we going to your place?” Akira asked her, sounding a bit annoyed.

She just smiled, before Ann forced herself past Ryuji and pushed Akira inside. “Go have a talk you two!” she exclaimed with a huge grin on her face.

“As student council president, I demand it,” Makoto added, her smile turning bigger by the minute.

Ann and Makoto quickly made their way towards the gallery after that, giggling like mad, disappearing before Ann made a quick “Call me” sign at Ryuji.

Feeling a little hesitant, Ryuji muttered: “The hell, wanna come inside then man?”

Silently cursing himself, since he was still blushing slightly from his realization he was hoping that Akira wouldn’t notice. Akira looked at him for a minute, before nodding and walking right past Ryuji.

* * *

There was an awkward tension between the two of them. A tension that Ryuji longed to break, as Akira was just sort of staring at him. “So um…how you been man?” Ryuji asked, desperate to get a conversation going.

“Alright, I guess...” was the response he got. That didn’t give him much to work with. As he was looking at Akira, he never realized how strong and attractive he looked. The dark curls framing his face, the confident posture and aura the boy seemed to exude. Something was off about Akira now though, like something was jamming that confident aura and messing up his entire demeanor. That thought seemed weird to Ryuji, but it was the only way he could explain it. It made him sad though, seeing Akira like this.

Realizing making small talk wasn’t going to solve their problems, he decided to take a risk.

“I’m sorry, bro. I was a dense idiot…” he started as Akira suddenly looked straight at him, removing his glasses. His eyes were lovely too, Ryuji thought, before realizing this was not the moment to get lost into the other boy’s eyes. He cursed at himself again, for not realizing how attractive Akira had been to him.

“I should have realized you weren’t joking at the school festival, after everything we’ve done together. I was just shocked, you know? I thought no one would ever like a screw-up like me. I mean, look at you, you’re handsome, confident, and everyone likes you. Compared to that I’m nothing…I’m just a weak, useless piece of shit who doesn’t deserve anyone…” Ryuji would have kept going, before he realized that Akira had moved next to him on the couch and was now holding his hand. Ryuji was starting to tear up again, silently cursing himself for crying two times in a short amount of time.

“You’re not nothing, Ryuji,” he stated matter-of-factly, before allowing Ryuji to cry into his chest.

Ryuji could feel Akira’s chest moving as he was breathing and he allowed it to rock him back to comfort. Akira had started stroking his hair, probably to comfort him, and Ryuji decided that he liked being comforted like that. It had been a really long time since someone had gone that far just to comfort him.

“I’m sorry for crying like a lil’ bitch, I really am worthless, huh?” Ryuji muttered after calming down, but Akira shushed him, telling him it was alright.

“You’re not worthless, why do you feel like that in the first place?” Akira asked, sounding irritated, but there were also hints of concern and confusion in his voice.

“I guess I should tell you now, huh?” Ryuji said. Seeing Akira nod at him silently, he started his story:

“My loser dad left me when I was 10 years-old. It was just me and my mom after that, dude. She’s great, best mom ever, but she never really had time for me. I was alone a lot, which sucked, but a man’s gotta deal with that y’know? So I did. I was never really good at school, always getting bad grades. I hate studying now, but I really tried in middle school. It’s just so freaking stupid. Like me I guess…” Akira sternly looked at him, with a look of disapproval on his face, before Ryuji continued, clearing his throat and forcing himself not to get emotional again.

“Anyways, last year I got on the track team. I was really good, but you know what that dick Kamoshida did. Ruined the only chance I had at a scholarship. My mom was devastated, she didn’t tell me, tried to comfort me, but I knew I let her down. I always do that to her, to everyone,” Ryuji started to choke up, as Akira wrapped his arm around him.

“You’re not a letdown Ryuji, and I’m sure your mom would understand too. Did you tell her about what Kamoshida did?” Akira asked, his voice full of care and worry.

“No…I couldn’t burden her dude...” Ryuji muttered.

Akira just shook his head and sighed, before telling Ryuji that he had to tell her and that he could be there, if Ryuji wanted him to. Ryuji smiled, for the first time during the afternoon, before he started talking about the topic he dreaded. The school festival.

“I knew you were mad at me, that I screwed up at the school festival…You didn’t hang out with me anymore and I was benched during our explorations…I was always your second-in-command man, it made me feel like I belonged somewhere and when I wasn’t that anymore, it felt like shit dude!”

“Oh...” Akira muttered.

“Oh?” Ryuji repeated, slightly confused.

“It’s true that I didn’t hang out with you because of the school festival. Unlike what most people think I have emotions too...” Akira started.

“I’m sorry man, I’m such a screw-up” Ryuji started before being shushed again.

“Let me finish Ryuji,” Akira stated, to which Ryuji nodded. This was the part where he was going to get told off. That he was going to be told that Akira no longer liked him, he was sure of it.

“But I didn’t bench you because of it, you’re still my second-in-command, you’ll always be. Remember what you said after I helped you out with the track team? That you felt like your place was right next to me? Well, my place is right next to you and I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

Akira smiled at him as he finished saying that, and it was the brightest smile Ryuji had ever seen him smile.

“Why did you bench me then?” Ryuji wanted to know, while trying to process what Akira just said.

“Oh that? Your leg had been acting up and I didn’t want you to injure yourself. You were too proud to tell us, so I had to do something...” Akira stated as if it made complete sense and Ryuji had to admit that it did.

* * *

 That is when it hit Ryuji, Akira didn’t hate him, Akira could never hate him, and he could never hate Akira. Even when he was mad at him, Akira was still looking out for him.

“I meant what I said that day” Ryuji muttered. “I do feel like I belong with you”. He could see Akira’s face brighten as he said those words. Making him feel like he finally did something right.

“There is one thing you have to do for me though, if you want this to work Ryuji.”

“For real…?” Ryuji muttered.

“You have to start seeing yourself the way I see you. A loud and rude idiot…” Ryuji couldn’t believe what he was hearing, was Akira insulting him? “…who is also the most handsome, loyal, funny, protective and kind friend I could ever wish for” Akira finished, blushing slightly.

Ryuji started blushing as well, before tearing up again as he remembered the words his mother said to him when his father left him.

“You’re a loyal, funny, protective and kind boy Ryu-kun, don’t ever forget that, okay?”

Akira looked at him in surprise, wondering if he had said something that upset Ryuji. Ryuji however, brushed the tears away from his eyes and thanked Akira.

“Thanks dude. Thank you…” he stammered, before hugging Akira once more. It was different this time though, as he pressed his entire body against Akira.

“For what?” Akira whispered to him, almost seductively.

“Cause if I try to look through your eyes, I can once again see what my mom told me when I was a little kid...” Ryuji muttered, before leaning in to kiss Akira while cursing himself for making that sound super corny. Feeling his lips brush against the other boy’s, it didn’t take long for Akira to kiss him back.

After what felt like hours, their mouths stopped touching and Ryuji breathed heavily, unsure of what he just did. When he glanced at Akira, he saw that the boy was smiling.

Feeling strangely confident, he grabbed his phone and texted Akira.

> **Ryuji > **I love you Akira!

Akira felt his phone buzzing, and when he saw the message, he smiled, before leaning in for another kiss…

* * *

After kissing for a while, Ryuji felt his phone buzzing and broke away from Akira to check. To his surprise it was the Phantom Thieves group chat.

> **Futaba > **OMG it happened guys!
> 
> **Futaba > ***Screenshot containing Ryuji’s message*
> 
> **Ryuji > **the hell?
> 
> **Ann > **YESYESYES
> 
> **Makoto > **I am so proud of you two.
> 
> **Haru > **is this real life?
> 
> **Yusuke > **Congratulations.
> 
> **Akira > **It’s true. He confessed and everything :)
> 
> **Akira > **He’s so romantic too…
> 
> **Futaba > **lolol
> 
> **Haru > **im dying
> 
> **Ann > **Who knew our little Ryuji was a romantic?
> 
> **Makoto > **Girls!
> 
> **Akira >** ;)

“The hell man!” Ryuji exclaimed, while staring at Akira, who gave him a little wink before smiling, making Ryuji feel like he belonged somewhere again and that made him feel amazing.

There was one more question though, that lingered in his mind, but he was somehow able to muster up the confidence to ask it. “Does that… um… make us boyfriends or something?”

Akira looked at him, before smiling and saying “If that doesn’t hurt your reputation”.

Ryuji felt a tiny pang of guilt, but decided to get rid of it by saying “Screw my reputation, you’re more important to me than that.”

Akira’s smile turned even bigger, before he said “I guess that makes us boyfriends then” as he leaned in to kiss Ryuji once more.

Ryuji could definitely get used to this, he decided, before making a mental note to call Ann tonight to tell her all about this.

* * *

After Akira left, Ryuji felt happy, really happy, for the first time in a long time, as he dialed Ann’s number on his cellphone.

“Ryuji? Do you know how late it is?” Ann whined as she answered the phone.

“For real?! You signed me a “call me” sign Ann!

“I know, I know, so how was it? Did it all end well?”

“Dude...Going straight for the truth, huh?”

“I just wanna know, okay, we all really invested a lot in this!”

Ryuji chuckled at that, it seemed like he had a lot of friends who cared about him now.

“We sorted out our stuff…”

“And…?”

“The hell Ann…!”

“Aaaaaaand?”

“We’re dating, ok, no need to make a big deal out of it.”

Ryuji swore he could hear Futuba, Haru and Makoto cheer in the background…and was that Yusuke cheering as well?!

“Am I on speaker phone?”

“No Ryuji, why would you think that?” Ann said sheepishly.

“Just…never mind. Thank you Ann...for everything, y'know?”

“No problem Ryuji, also turning off speaker phone now.”

“So I was on speaker, you little…”

Ryuji quickly stopped, as he touched his still sore cheek and heard Ann cough in the background.

“I will help you sort through your issues. You need to talk to someone Ryuji.”

“I…” Ryuji muttered.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. You’re not a burden Ryuji, we all wanna help you”.

“Fine…can I go now?” Ryuji asked, he appreciated Ann’s offer, but it made him feel really uncomfortable.

“Yes Ryuji, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“See ya tomorrow, Ann” Ryuji said before putting his phone back in his pocket.

Ryuji touched his face and was surprised to find that his cheeks were wet once more, but this time he hadn’t cried because he felt sad. He was happy, happier than he felt in a long time, because he was no longer a screw-up. He was Ryuji, and Ryuji mattered to a lot of people now. But most importantly, Ryuji mattered to Akira.

**Author's Note:**

> Super bummed when I couldn’t romance Ryuji so I just had to write this, I mean, come on, there was subtext and everything if you looked hard enough and I just love his character xD  
> Originally I planned to have multiple points of view, but it definitely turned into a character study in the end. I really enjoyed writing Ryuji, since he’s my favorite character in P5, so I guess it just sort of happened. Tried to stay close to the character while trying to deepen his personality a bit, I hope you guys liked it!
> 
> Also, I just love a good Ann/Ryuji friendship, so I tried to write it as realistically as I could. First fic in ages too, so I hope it was alright >.<
> 
> (Oh and not a native speaker, so sorry if there's slight grammer/spelling mistakes)
> 
> Comments are <3 btw, would love to hear what you guys think.


End file.
